2010 Spring Training Rotation Thread

[Metes]

I am not frightened by Penn in the least; on the contrary, his mustache soothes my morally bankrupt soul.

In a fifth starter, I'd like to see a guy that can come in and just throw strikes and last more than 5 innings with some consistency. If Penn shows he can do that, I'd take him over guys that could potentially strike out 7 or 8 batters on a given night, but are usually wild and have high pitch counts with short starts.

[BigGameFish]

Are you refering to Vandy with that last line?

I wouldnt mind Penn either...whoever performs best should get the spot. I hate giving starters spots based on potential. So far Penn has been okay, better than a few other guys vying for that spot.

[THE_REAL_MIBS]

He's been paired up with Anibal. Anibal has started every game he's played this spring. Vandy came in after Sanchez in both of his appearances.

[Metes]

Are you refering to Vandy with that last line?

I wouldnt mind Penn either...whoever performs best should get the spot. I hate giving starters spots based on potential. So far Penn has been okay, better than a few other guys vying for that spot.

RVH/Miller/West are kind of the collective I'm referring to there. I'd love to see 'em just throw strikes.

[Jewbility]

Sean West optioned to AAA

[Beef]

You are the worst

[Jewbility]

I petition to differ.

[Bobbob1313]

RVH/Miller/West are kind of the collective I'm referring to there. I'd love to see 'em just throw strikes.

While I'm not one to put much value in ST and Winter League stats, going back to the beginning of September last year, Rick VandenHurk has thrown 57 competitive innings between the majors, Puerto Rico, and Spring Training, and he has just 15 walks. 2.4 per nine.

Take it with a grain of salt, obviously, but if we include the ST and PRWL stats into his major and minor league stats from last year, he's walked 52 over 145.1 innings, or 3.2 per nine.

I think we're slowly starting to see his control improve, and I think that's a good thing. Now he just has to keep the ball down, and he's shown some improvement in that regard, as he was very good at AAA with HR/9 and showed major improvement in his late season call up, with just two home runs over his last 5 starts in September.

You have to take this all with a huge grain of salt, of course, as there's certainly some picking and choosing involved and small sample size alerts, but if it was up to me and we were just going on who I think our best 5 pitchers are right now, he's in for sure.

[THE_REAL_MIBS]

Aiming to use his 6-foot-8 frame to his advantage, Chris Volstad has been working on keeping his pitches down in the zone.
For the most part, the Marlins' 23-year-old did just that on Monday afternoon against the Twins.
"It was encouraging the first two innings. I'm going to try to feed off that," Volstad said.
Manager Fredi Gonzalez also is punctuating the positive.
"One ball up, and it was a home run," Gonzalez said. "There were a lot of ground balls in there that they got base hits. That's a good sign when you've got a sinkerballer, and you're trying to make that ball sink and they're getting ground balls. That's a good sign for me."
Volstad was lifted in the third after throwing 67 pitches, 35 for strikes. He induced three ground balls and three flyouts.
"The first two innings were good. I was down," Volstad said. "The breaking stuff felt really well. The third inning, that bunt base hit was probably a play I should have made. After that, there were just a couple of pitches that were up."

For Volstad, there's room for improvement

There's more to the article that I'll post later but, judging by how Fredi is talking, it doesn't sound like Volstad is getting kicked out of the rotation race yet.

[THE_REAL_MIBS]

Not giving up on Volstad
Despite the box score, Gonzalez said he was encouraged by Chris Volstad’s outing yesterday.

In particular, Gonzalez said Volstad’s sinkerball had improved.

“The four walks didn’t bother you quite as much because you saw that ball running,” he said. “You saw the depth on that sinker which is a good sign. You saw ground balls, which is a good sign.”

http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/marli...re-left-elbow/

[Bucklin12]

yay

[Chewford]

You can't give up on Volstad just based on the fact there's not much after him to take his place.

[Mainge]

I just fucking shelled Volstad in the Show.

[Omar]

Yeah, the chances Volstad isn't part of the initial rotation is slim to none. Might as well give him a chance and hope for the best.

We will be losing many games this year thanks to our shoddy pitching

[McLevin]

ewww all around to this group

just ewww